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I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a review on Olaplex for a while now. Pretty much ever since the day I got my little mitts on a bottle of the famous stuff. Having friends who are hairdressers on Facebook, I’d seen the term/product been thrown around with the highest of praise so naturally I was keen to give it a go myself to see if it could work its magic on my ol’ mane. One of my friends from dancing, an avid believer in the product, warned me that you do need to give it some time before you start to notice results but that the wait is totes worth it. Well I waited (’til I finished the whole bottle) and finally.. here are my thoughts. Please note that I am in no way, shape or form a hairdresser or hair guru of any kind, just a mere mortal with hair, sharing her experience with a product 🙂

Ze Mane.. spot the cheeky peace sign.

I guess I’d better start with what Olaplex actually is for all those people out there who don’t know. For those of you that don’t care though, I’d suggest you just jump this paragraph and head to the less informative drivel below 🙂 So, this is what olaplex.com has to say about itself; “Olaplex is the original, unique and patented chemistry that multiplies bonds and cross-links broken bonds. Olaplex did not create a product category – Olaplex is the product category.” *DROPS MIC* Boom! What a bloody statement. It IS the product category fellas. So basically, hairdressers are obsessed with this stuff because it allows them to become total #Superhairoes, (see what I did there 😉 don’t deny it, you’re going to use that term now) giving them the power to colour or lighten hair at any level without the risk of breakage. Great for hairdressers I initially thought, but I didn’t realise that they actually sell it as a 3 step process and that the only bottle I (a non-hairdresser) should really be interested in is No.3 the “Hair Perfector” which can be used at home as a stand-alone treatment. No.3 acts as a sort of magical elixir for your hair, repairing it from within. This got me excited because my hair goes through the absolute ringer enduring things like gel, extreme hold hairspray and rhinestone glue on a monthly basis and is often in need of some serious TLC. Olaplex to the rescue!

Crazy hair pic number 1

Crazy hair pic number 2

Ok, so onto my experience. I recently just finished my bottle and I have to say I was a little bit underwhelmed with the product. “WHAT!?” I hear you say, but yes it’s true I was a little ‘meh’ about it UNTIL… I used it for the very last time. I’m not pulling your leg here, I legitimately was not going to write a blog post about Olaplex because I don’t like writing about things that I don’t believe in but upon my last try of this product, I was changed. Things were a little different on this last try though, I had just gotten back from a month in the UK and after doing a few competitions (dance hair included obviously) and washing my hair in UK water, my hair was looking sub-par. That’s a pretty big understatement guys, my hair was actually a big, frazzly, broken-ended mess. So I thought I’d use the last of my Olaplex and rather than leave it on for the minimum time of 10 minutes I decided to leave it for about 40 minutes. I then followed that by doing what I would always do and that’s wash my hair twice with red shampoo and conditioning as normal.

I’m not sure if it was due to leaving the Olaplex on my hair for much longer than I had before or if it took my hair being in such a dilapidated state for me to notice, but I’m saying it now – this product really is worth all that hype! I noticed a difference in the feeling of my hair straight after I rinsed the Olaplex out before shampooing it. The texture of the strands felt stronger, sturdier, more protein-ier.. really great descriptions here I know. But seriously, it felt like my hair was strong enough for me to use as rope to abseil my way down a cliff face. After I had roughly blow-dried it I could see that it looked so much shinier and that the colour was seriously vibrant. Granted I did use my De Lorenzo colour shampoo which never disappoints, but the colour had not looked this deep or rich for a while. It was noticeable enough for my boyfriend to comment so yeah, enough said! All of my split ends had been repaired (see photo) and trust me there were a lot beforehand as I haven’t had my hair cut in over a year and a half.. I know, I know, shame on me! The results were all there and I immediately wished that I could go back in time and leave it on for longer on all those previous occasions. Alas, I can’t.. but the good news is YOU CAN!

No more split ends!

After I’ve styled it 🙂

So, the moral of my story with Olaplex is, the longer it is left on – the better the results. I’d say for pretty damaged hair you could leave it on for anywhere between 30-45 minutes like I did and you will notice a difference immediately. I’m not sure if the minimum time of 10 minutes really allows the product to do itself complete justice but I’m sure that even in that short time it does do something! Either way, it’s not a sham, it does work and your lengths will thank you for it. If your interested in giving it a go for yourself, my friends over at Salonstyle.com are selling the 100ml No.3 Hair Perfector Bottle at AU$44.95. Go check it out here!

Have you tried Olaplex before? How’d you find it? Hit me up in the box below and leave some of your thoughts!

Let’s address the ginormous elephant in the room here before we get started shall we? I’ve been MIA for the past couple of weeks… apologies for that. Life is a rollercoaster ride and sometimes you’ve just got to hang on tight, close your eyes and feel your way through those ups and downs. For me these past couple have weeks have been just that, up and down. But mostly down. In positive news, my partner and I got a new car (after driving around in a 2000 Toyota Echo for 8 years, basically ANYTHING is an upgrade!), I’ve gotten to catch up with some friends and family (yes, this is a luxury for me!) and I’ve been trialling a few products to post about. But the bad news has kind of been what’s been consuming most of my time and energy the past week and a half and that has been the passing of my Opi (it’s how you say ‘grandfather’ in German, and yes I’m half German). It’s never easy losing someone you love and my Opi was so special to me which has made it even harder. Those happy memories of him will last forever though and the thought of that has definitely helped, but it for sure has been difficult to get on here and pretend that nothing has happened so I decided to take a little bit of time 🙂 Alas I feel that time has passed now and I didn’t come on here to be a negative Nancy so I shall speak sadly no longer and I’ll jam on through to some of those products I’ve been wanting to post about!

Red roses from my Valentine

RIP Opi, I love you!

Yeeaahh boy!

Today it’s hair masks but make sure to stay tuned for the next episode! I’ve been trialling a couple over the last 3 weeks and one has definitely been a stand out. I love the luxurious-ness of hair masks and I especially love the way they leave my hair feeling silky and sleek like I’ve just walked out of the salon. Each of the masks I’ve been testing have different “priorities” shall we say but the general gist of any hair mask I feel is to replenish damaged hair, giving it back its strength, smoothness and shine. So if you’re interested in splashing out and giving your hair a good masking then read on sister!

Evo: Mane Attention Protein Mask

Suitable for: coloured hair, damaged hair, people with hair, people with split-ends, hair.

First impressions: Nice simple packaging, easy to use and LOVE that I only need to leave on for 3-5 minutes. Smells fruity, floraly, pretty-y and is transparent in colour (does that even make sense?) Probably better to say the product has no colour? Ahh forget it. It doesn’t have much of a ‘mask’ type feeling to it and could actually pass as being a conditioner. Due to lack of richness/thickness it doesn’t go very far on my super thick hair and I have to use a gallon.

After drying: Well considering it claims to be the “psychiatrist for split ends” and states it provides “boosts for the shoots” (ahem, whatever that means!) I feel it kiiiiiiiiind of lives up to its name. My hair did feel different in a slightly courser, stronger way and there did appear to be less split ends. I guess if you are looking for that silky, slippery post-mask hair feeling then this isn’t really the guy for you. This bloke is more about fixing past damage and protecting the hair from future inflictions. The concept is that the more you use it the stronger the hair becomes and after a couple of washes I was all out of product and I couldn’t really tell if my hair was that much stronger. I would have loved to have tried this product 2 years ago when my hair actually was totally stuffed from bleaching it platinum so that I could really put it to the test because at the moment my hair feels in pretty good nick so I’m not sure if that’s why I didn’t feel much change? Not my favourite hair mask but definitely not something that I would say is totally hopeless.. give the little sampler a go and see if it helps you 🙂 You can find it over here at Salon Style.

First impressions: Cute little tub for ease of getting out the product. Oops, maybe a little tooooo much product. The blue goo smells like citrus which reminds me of how much I hate citrus. The citrus does become bearable for all non-citrus lovers. It definitely has that rich, thick, mask type consistency but you have to leave it on for 10-15 minutes #youwinsomeyoulosesome. I combed it through the ends, shaved, brushed my teeth, exfoliated my face and knitted 10 sweaters before finally washing it out and… my hair felt like it belonged in a Disney movie. Totally worth the time.

After Drying: The Disney hair feeling didn’t go away and on top of that my hair was uber shiny. My hair seemed to dry really easily and was so silky and smooth that it just went where my hair dryer blew it. No need for extra styling because it looked like I had already done that just from rough drying it with my old scabby hairdryer! It definitely replenished my hair like it said it would and the satin finish lasted a good 4 days of beating ranging from tears to hairspray. Looking forward to using it again and getting my Ariel hair back #underthesea. To find prices and sizes check it out here at SalonStyle.

Follow me on Snapchat 🙂 rachellemp. Taken the other day post protein mask!

I do have a few more reviews on other beauty products to come so don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE if you enjoy my nattering!

Love, Rachelle xx

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Rachelle is a 27 year old Australian Professional Ballroom Champion living in Sydney, NSW. Travelling the world she is constantly inspired by whatever surrounds her and that is reflected in Pink Suede. Have a look around and enjoy!